1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to container handling apparatus, and more particularly to apparatus for opening folded carton blanks prior to inserting desired articles into the cartons.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Machinery for automatically loading open side cartons with complements of upright articles is well known. The cartons to be loaded are usually supplied to the loading machinery as folded blanks. As a preliminary step to the loading process, the carton blanks must be unfolded.
Normally the blanks are supplied to the unfolding equipment from a storage hopper or other source in which the blanks are laid horizontally in a vertical stack. The blanks are removed one at a time from the supply stack for unfolding and transporting to the article loading station. Exemplary machinery for unfolding blanks and for side loading the open side cartons is disclosed in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 602,527. The unfolding machinery of patent application Ser. No. 602,527, while completely satisfactory in many respects, does not possess all the advantages and benefits disclosed herein.